Happy 1 month to my shampoo-less hair! All your questions answered! Now, I'm not an expert or a professional 'no shampoo-er' so these are merely my personal observations and opinions. These questions were asked via my blog, facebook, etc. Feel free to leave any other questions you have in the comment boxes at the end of each blog post!
- Dana said: So do you think this would be beneficial for dudes? I think it would be much easier for lads to do this than the ladies! What happens is, the excess oil from the very first time that you stopped washing your hair slowly works its way down to the tips of your hair. So, the shorter the hair, the faster the oil works its way out! Obviously, if your hair is shorter it's also easier to manage in the shower, making the washing process go quicker. I've got tons of hair to work with and even though you just wash your scalp, I still have to deal with the length. So I say yes! :) - TallGuy10 said: Does having hard water showers prevent your hair from taking care of itself and being healthy without shampooing? Very good question! I did some research on this and learned a lot from it too, so thanks for helping me inform myself! I found this information from a website that I'll link at the bottom of this post. Hard Water has large amounts of calcium and magnesium. These minerals can dry out your skin and hair and leave it with a rough texture. Your shower drain will also likely develop calcium buildup. Hard water dries out your hair and leaves it feeling dull, lifeless and heavy. Any hair treatments you have like a perm or dye will fade and relax much faster than they should when hair is washed in hard water. You may also notice a dry, flaky scalp, hair breakage and hair thinning due to blockage at the follicles. To alter the Baking Soda shampoo and Apple Cider Vinegar rinse to better suite your hair needs, just use distilled water instead of tap water OR boil the water before you add it to your mixtures! Boiling the water will not take away all of the impurities of the hard water but it will do a much better job than the water straight from the tap. If your hair is still feeling dry try a natural hair mask or an organic deep conditioning treatment. Here is a website that has many different options for natural shampoos, I've read that shapoos with egg in them are beneficial for dry hair. Sources: Source 1 Source 2 Source 3 - Cinnimon said: I have thought about doing this. I worry my hair is so greasy that I will have an oil drip and have to start bottling it. lol. What about other products? Do you use hair spray or gels? I have been blessed with some pretty easy going hair that doesn't need tamed or styled often (thank the lord!) so I don't use or even own hardly any styling products (hair spray or gels) or tools (blow dryer or straightener)! There are no rules as to how many times you wash your hair when doing the no poo challenge so I would just suggest washing it after you want to the product out of your hair! From what I've read, you can't wash it too little or too many times. So, even if it does get super oily super fast, just wash/rinse it everyday! I'm a month in and my hair still produces a good amount of oil. But (fingers crossed) it starts to stop producing so much! I've had my fair share of pony tails and buns for a while! I will be starting a new schedule with my hair where I wash with baking soda and apple cider vinegar once a week (Mondays). I haven't seen a huge decrease in oil production yet and I think it's because I'm still washing my hair a few times a week and my hair hasn't really had to go through any major changes yet. So, we'll see! Just trying to tweak this until I get it down perfectly!
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I've almost been shampoo free for a month! My routine hasn't changed much and I'm really happy with the results! I've also got a couple friends on board and they gave up the 'poo' too! Last Saturday I ran a 5k mud obstacle thingy, it was awesome! Except for the aftermath part.. how in the heck is baking soda going to get all this gunk out of my hair?! I'll admit that I thought about using shampoo more than once on the mud filled hour drive home. But, I got home and mixed my shampoo and rinse together and went into the shower with very low hopes... and was completely surprised! My hair got just as clean as the rest of my friends who were in the run with me! Now, if that isn't proof, I don't know what is!
For my 30 days of 'no poo' post, I will be answering readers questions! So, if you're curious about anything that has to do with the challenge, please comment below and next Friday I'll be posting the answers! If you're nervous to ask a question, just don't put your name and no one will know it's you! Easy as that! Also, don't make me feel like a loser with no readers.. I can see how many people look at this thing and it's well over 100! muahaha :) xo I made it! 2 weeks in and I'm a believer! Honestly, I thought I would have given in and shampood my hair by now. But, I haven't! Woohoo!
A few things I've learned/noticed so far: - I do not enjoy getting my hair wet and not using the baking soda wash. Before I started this challenge, I never got my hair wet without shampooing it. Well, I did that inbetween washes this past week and it was awful. I felt that it made my hair even greasier than before! I was talking to BHW about it and he said that when he rinses his hair it does the same thing, good to know I'm not the only one. But I will not do that again! - The process only works if you do each of the steps correctly every time. After the first wash, I started trying to squeak out of steps to make the process shorter and easier. Nope, it doesn't work like that. If you want clean hair you have to take your time with the baking soda wash, always remember the tea tree oil, and never forget to do the apple cider vinegar rinse! I learned all of these things from experience.. unfortunately. - My hair doesn't look or feel any different than anyone else's. - People don't even notice unless I've told them beforehand. I have very honest friends and family members and they would tell me if my hair looked back. The only bad experience I've had so far with family members was with my lil sis, SRD. She was straightening the back of my hair and started complaining about how gross my hair felt! I was a little discouraged but then I realized a big step I forget.. the apple cider vinegar rinse. I used that as my excuse as to why my hair felt so gross but secretly I was doubting the whole process. I got home and when I was due for another wash, I made sure I did all the steps and *Ta-da!* my hair was super clean again! I don't have a picture for you today, sorry! But, to be honest, my hair doesn't look any different! I'll be doing my first 5K Mud-run tomorrow and I'm a tad nervous.. I sure hope this baking soda mix can get out clumps of mud! We'll see! This weekend I went to a few major parties for family; my nephew's 1st birthday, a bridal shower, and a graduation party for my best friend. Each party I was surrounded by wonderful people whom I loved so much.. that also used shampoo in their hair. Was I nervous? Yes! I was scared someone was going to say something about my hair or noticed that it smelled (which it doesn't) or something crazy. Did any of that happen? Nope! I actually got quite a few compliments on my hair! I used baking soda on Saturday morning but realized I forgot my apple cider vinegar rinse! It didn't make too big of a difference but I still wish that I would have been able to do the full routine right without any mistakes. Oh well, there's always next time! It's currently Tuesday evening, I haven't cleansed since Saturday, and this is how my head feels: ITCHY. I realized that every time I make new baking soda wash.. I keep forgetting to add the tea tree oil. Tomorrow I will (hopefully) remember to add the oil to stop this itching!
Something that has been surprising me as more and more people find out what I'm doing.. or not doing to my hair is that; people are actually really interested! Before I started I figured that everyone would just think I was weird and write me off.. but people are curious! For example, each time I see my sis-in-law she always compliments my hair and asks questions about how the whole process works. I personally figured she would have been grossed out! I love informing people about what is actually in shampoo and how it's harmful to you and your hair. I don't push people to stop using shampoo.. just answer their questions! Although, one thing that I am nervous about is taking my engagement pictures! I want my hair to be in the best condition and with all the mistakes I've been making during this whole thing.. I'm not so sure it's gonna look so great! I guess I just need to buck My first week of the 'No Poo' Challenge is complete! I had more than a few people tell me that when they saw I was doing this challenge.. they thought I was going to try to stop.. well.. going poo! I guess maybe the name wasn't so clear, somebody is probably regretting that one! As I think about the past week my thoughts are actually quite pleasant. My head doesn't itch, it's not more greasy than normal (no one has even noticed I'm doing anything different with my hair actually), and it doesn't smell like vinegar either!
I did make one mistake yesterday (Thursday 05/03), not taking my time. I hopped in the shower and put a little baking soda mixture here and there and did a quick rinse and followed with the vinegar conditioner. After my hair drying, I realized my hair was still greasy. GREAT! : / That lesson was quickly learned. The key is to get to every inch of your scalp with the baking soda and make sure you really work it in to take out the excess oil and build up. But like I put in my last post, the baking soda and vinegar DOE I haven't noticed any change in the amount of oils my hair produces, that can take at least a few weeks. I'm not discouraged yet and I'm very hopeful! Headed to my first 'public' outings as a 'No Poo' advocate; my nephew's 1st birthday and a bridal shower! Gotta make sure my hair looks rockin'! :) I'll post pictures of it next week so you can see how my hair looks next to those who DO use shampoo! Friday I washed my hair with shampoo and conditioner for the last time. Saturday and Sunday I didn't wash or rinse my hair. That's not out of the ordinary for me, I usually go a couple days without washing my hair. Monday night I felt like my hair was too oily and itchy for one more day of no washing. I gathered up my ingredients and put together my baking soda wash and my apple cider vinegar rinse. To make the wash: put 1 tablespoon of baking soda and 8 ounces of warm water into a squeeze bottle and shake up! It's that easy! I also added 2 tiny drops of tea tree oil to the bottle. Now, to use the wash: squirt a small amount onto the scalp, rub in, and move onto the next part of your head. You only need to concentrate on the scalp, that's where the oil is produced! After washing your entire scalp, rinse! It's just like using shampoo except it doesn't get all sudsy. After you rinse, squirt the apple cider vinegar 'conditioner' to your scalp. Let it run to the ends of your hair and then rinse! Trust me, I was a bit nervous that my hair was going to be all greasy or fall out or something crazy like that. But, it didn't, it actually felt clean! More clean than it's felt in a while to be honest! I went to class and asked my friends to smell my hair.. weird huh? Well, I wanted to see if they thought my hair smelled like vinegar. I couldn't smell it but I didn't know if that was just because I was used to the smell from using it in the shower an hour earlier. Each of the people I asked both said that my hair smelled GOOD, like shampoo! So, after all that.. my first wash and rinse was a complete success! This process may not be as challenging as I thought it was going to be! Anyone interested in trying the 'No Poo' Challenge? Let me know if you have any questions! |